Chapter Summaries

Diana attended her law firm’s gathering on her last day there, then left after Xi Nian appeared and invited her to dance. She accepted his invitation to a date and demanded a thousand dates to make up for the three-year delay.

• Diana attended the firm’s gathering in a white dress and told her colleagues she would pay for the evening.
• Diana declined several men’s invitations to dance and reflected that she wanted to go home and see Xi Nian.
• Xi Nian was stopped outside the bar by a security guard who doubted he was an adult, so he asked how much the bar was worth.
• Diana left the gathering and was about to exit when Xi Nian invited her to dance.
• Diana placed her hand in Xi Nian’s and demanded a thousand dates, saying he owed her for the three-year delay.

Xi Nian reunited with Diana after returning from the dead, and the two recalled the promise they made before his apparent death. Back with his family in 2015, Xi Nian promised they would never be separated again, then began explaining how he thought Diana had saved him.

• Xi Nian remembered that, three years earlier, he had tried to push Diana away because he feared leaving her alone after his death, but Diana told him she would live, fight, and die for him.
• Xi Nian and Diana danced together at the bar, while a young assistant recognized Diana and Scarlet Maiden watched them before vanishing through a shattered space.
• Xi Nian reunited with Diana, Wanda, Little Huang, Venom, and the dark-red cloak at the Washington villa, and he promised their family would never be separated again.
• Xi Nian met Diana in their room and said he thought she had saved him, though Diana did not know which of her attempts had worked.

Diana explained that Xi Nian’s permanent abilities were gifts born from the sincere wishes of those who loved him, revealing that her wish had granted him Divine Immortality. Xi Nian recounted how his soul escaped the mark of death and returned, then hinted that he had discovered his sister’s true identity.

• Xi Nian and Diana awkwardly recalled crossing a line in their relationship three years earlier, before Diana pulled him onto her lap and discussed his abilities.
• Diana explained that Xi Nian’s abilities reflected the heartfelt wishes of those who blessed him, and that her wish for him to live had given him Divine Immortality.
• Xi Nian realized that Diana’s gift had kept his body alive for three years while his soul was elsewhere, and that his immortality could let him survive until the universe’s end.
• Xi Nian told Diana that the Space Stone had transported his soul to the Soul Stone, where he met Red Skull and used the stone to nourish his soul and weaken the mark of death.
• Xi Nian explained that his sister helped him understand the laws of death, allowing him to accept and ultimately escape the mark’s curse.
• Diana said she was grateful to Xi Nian’s sister, but Xi Nian covered her mouth and warned her before hinting at his sister’s identity.

Xi Nian told Diana about the two beings called Death and reflected on the lessons his sister had left in his memories. After Diana examined him, Xi Nian learned that Diana and Wanda had changed their lives during his three-year absence, while the rules of death fused with his soul remained unexplained.

• Xi Nian explained to Diana that his sister was death itself, distinct from the Creator God Death, and said he wondered if he would ever see her again.
• Diana reminded Xi Nian that his sister’s knowledge and memories remained with him, and he accepted that he would carry her with him even if they never met again.
• Diana and Xi Nian agreed that the rules of death fused into his soul might have unusual effects, so Diana examined his body using her divine power and the Lasso of Truth.
• Over breakfast, Diana said she planned to change her law-firm job and identity after nearly ten years.
• Wanda told Xi Nian that she had graduated middle school, stopped attending classes, and had stayed home caring for him while learning from Alice.

Xi Nian traveled to Columbia University to reunite with Gwen after waking from a three-year absence. Gwen recognized him, rushed into his arms, and left campus clinging to him.

• Diana told Xi Nian that Gwen was studying at Columbia and had visited him every weekend during his three-year absence.
• Xi Nian used Wanda’s Two-Finger Ring to travel to New York and waited for Gwen outside her class.
• Xi Nian jokingly pretended to hit on Gwen, startling the students who expected her to attack him.
• Gwen recognized Xi Nian, dropped her books, and tearfully threw herself into his arms.
• Xi Nian carried Gwen out of the school while she clung to him and playfully bit his neck.

Xi Nian reunited with Gwen and brought her to Future Chronicle, where an awkward interruption cut their private moment short. Gwen then told him how the Avengers had split over a superhero accord and Winter Soldier, leaving the team severely weakened.

• Xi Nian carried Gwen away from Columbia University and used his pendant to transport them to Future Chronicle's top-floor office.
• Gwen kissed Xi Nian and climbed onto him, but Wanda entered with Little Huang and interrupted them.
• Gwen composed herself over coffee and told Xi Nian that the Avengers had split into factions led by Iron Man and Captain America.
• The two Avengers factions had fought at a private airport over the accord and Winter Soldier, weakening the Avengers as a whole.

After waking from a three-year sleep, Xi Nian learned that the Avengers had split and the Justice League had traveled to Apokolips with Kara. He asked Starro about the League's progress and realized that reaching them or Apokolips would be extraordinarily difficult, while Darkseid might still be alive.

• Xi Nian and Gwen discussed the Avengers' breakup and Peter Parker's temporary role as Spider-Boy, and Xi Nian promised to have Alice watch over him.
• Gwen lamented that Xi Nian had not woken three days earlier, before Kara and the Justice League left Earth for Apokolips.
• Xi Nian brought Gwen to Energy Absorption Space and asked Starro whether it could locate Can Luo's clone.
• Starro said the Justice League's ship was heading toward Apokolips, a distant cosmic boundary, and was expected to arrive in one to one and a half months.
• Xi Nian worried that he could not find a way to reach the League and recalled that Darkseid might have survived his earlier attack.

Xi Nian and Gwen explored the Energy Absorption Space, where Starro showed them the miniature alien planet it had created from Brainiac’s shrunken cities. After Catwoman was brought there and discovered Kandor, Xi Nian returned to the Future Chronicle headquarters and suddenly collapsed.

• Starro showed Xi Nian and Gwen a miniature planet containing Brainiac’s shrunken alien cities and a statue of Xi Nian, whom the residents revered as their savior.
• Xi Nian told Starro to keep observing the cities and to compile information about their civilizations and surviving populations.
• Gwen joked that their universe might itself be a miniature world observed by a greater being, leaving Xi Nian and Starro uneasy.
• After Xi Nian and Gwen left, Starro realized it had forgotten to tell Xi Nian that Little Huang had swallowed Catwoman and Starro had moved her into the miniature planet.
• Catwoman woke in a silent alien city, where an old man told her she was in Kandor, Krypton’s last remaining city.
• Xi Nian returned to the Future Chronicle headquarters with Gwen, then suddenly lost consciousness and fell forward.

Xi Nian briefly lost consciousness, and his eyes turned black before returning to normal, leaving him uneasy about what he sensed as death. Alice then told him an old acquaintance was seeking help, and Stephen Strange arrived at Future Chronicle headquarters only to find Xi Nian waiting for him.

• Xi Nian woke after briefly losing consciousness, and Gwen and Wanda saw his eyes turn black before they returned to normal.
• Gwen and Wanda tried to examine Xi Nian, but Alice interrupted them by announcing that an old acquaintance wanted to see him.
• Stephen Strange, disabled by a car accident and desperate to heal his hands, received a call from Future Chronicle and went to its headquarters.
• Strange rode the private elevator to the administrator's office and was stunned to see Xi Nian sitting behind the desk.

Xi Nian reunited with Doctor Strange and arranged treatment for his paralyzed hands at Future Chronicle. After Strange chose a nerve-repair procedure with mechanical components, he agreed to join the company once he recovered, while Xi Nian set out to investigate a strange black mist only he could see.

• Strange was shocked to find Xi Nian alive and learned that he was the chairman of Future Chronicle and Gwen Stacy's boyfriend.
• Xi Nian saw black mist curling around Strange's paralyzed hands, but Gwen and Strange could not see it.
• Alice scanned Strange's hands and offered three treatment options, and Strange chose to preserve his limbs with mechanical nerve repairs.
• Xi Nian arranged for Strange's treatment, and Strange agreed to work at Future Chronicle after recovering.
• Xi Nian and Gwen went to a busy pedestrian street so Xi Nian could confirm something urgently.

Xi Nian discovered that he could see the lingering imprint of death around people and named his fourth permanent ability Death's Eye. After Strange received repaired semi-mechanical hands, the Ancient One appeared in Xi Nian's office.

• Xi Nian saw black mist around several passersby and asked Alice to monitor them.
• Alice reported that Amos was badly injured, Holt Aide was shot dead, and Orina Lisa had a brain tumor; Xi Nian concluded the mist marked the presence and likelihood of death.
• Xi Nian realized his new ability let him perceive death's imprint and called it Death's Eye.
• Strange awoke with repaired semi-mechanical hands that were stronger and more durable than before.
• Xi Nian turned at the sound of footsteps and found the Ancient One standing in his living room.

Xi Nian reunited with the Ancient One, who asked him to consider becoming the Sorcerer Supreme, but he refused to take on the responsibility. After the Ancient One left, Wanda asked Xi Nian to go somewhere with her that afternoon.

• The Ancient One returned and thanked Xi Nian for his concern, explaining that Wanda had mastered Kamar-Taj's spells on her own.
• The Ancient One asked Xi Nian whether he would accept the position of Sorcerer Supreme, but he said he was not suited to protecting the world.
• The Ancient One questioned whether Xi Nian could return to an ordinary life, then left him alone with the question.
• Gwen woke late and argued playfully with Xi Nian before Wanda appeared and she hurriedly explained their position.
• Wanda said she had gone to Kamar-Taj and asked Xi Nian to accompany her somewhere that afternoon; he agreed.

Strange left Future Chronicle Company with his hands restored after Xi Nian waived the billion-dollar treatment cost. Xi Nian and Wanda then arrived at the house Wanda had lost during the Battle of New York, as Xi Nian tried to tell her she did not have to live as his maid.

• Strange tested his repaired semi-mechanical hands and learned that their estimated cost was one billion dollars.
• Alice told Strange that Xi Nian had waived all treatment expenses because he considered Strange a friend.
• The Ancient One approached Strange to offer help healing his hands, then realized they had already been repaired.
• Xi Nian apologized to Wanda for sending her away the previous night and told her she did not need to serve him.
• Wanda led Xi Nian to the house she had lost during the Battle of New York more than three years earlier.

Xi Nian visited Wanda’s rebuilt childhood home and learned how deeply she wanted to remain by his side. That night, Peter Parker and Pietro arrived at the same hotel room and reunited with Xi Nian.

• Wanda showed Xi Nian the house she and Pietro had rebuilt on the site of their former home.
• Xi Nian offered Wanda the option of living there again, but Wanda refused and feared he wanted to send her away.
• After Xi Nian fell asleep, Wanda confessed that wherever he was felt like home and wished she could stay beside him.
• Peter Parker and Pietro independently followed invitations to the same hotel and discovered they were classmates heading to one family dinner.
• Peter Parker and Pietro reached the private room together and found Xi Nian waiting behind them.

Xi Nian reunited with Gwen, Peter Parker, Wanda, and Pietro at a family dinner, where he saw signs that Peter Parker faced mortal danger and Pietro was marked for certain death. After dinner, he was led to meet the woman who had paid the bill, and recognized her with surprise and delight.

• Xi Nian reunited with Pietro and Peter Parker, then greeted Gwen, who denied having missed him.
• Xi Nian invited Wanda to join the family dinner, and the group ate together.
• Xi Nian saw deathly black mist surrounding Peter Parker and even more heavily enveloping Pietro, but kept his warnings to himself.
• After dinner, Xi Nian made Wanda stay with Pietro and learned that a woman upstairs had paid for the meal.
• Xi Nian entered the hotel's second-floor hall and recognized the woman waiting there.

Three years after their separation, Xi Nian reunited with Lorna at her hotel and learned she still hesitated to tell Wanda and Pietro that she was their half-sister. The chapter ended with Lorna challenging Xi Nian to kiss her.

• Xi Nian met Lorna in the hotel hall and greeted her as his boss after three years apart.
• Lorna pulled Xi Nian's sofa close with her power and rested her feet on his lap as they talked.
• Lorna thanked Xi Nian for saving Pietro and explained that she had built the hotel after returning to New York with Wanda.
• Xi Nian urged Lorna to acknowledge Wanda and Pietro, but she refused because she feared they would not accept her as their half-sister.
• Lorna pointed to her lips and told Xi Nian he could kiss her to his heart's content.

Xi Nian reunited with Lorna and told her that Death's Eye had shown Pietro's death, and they agreed to watch him secretly and intervene if necessary. The chapter ended with Xi Nian declaring that three years later he and Boss Lorna would reunite as an invincible duo.

• Pietro asked Wanda where Xi Nian had gone, and Wanda stopped him from using his abilities to search the hotel.
• Pietro teased Wanda about winning Xi Nian over, and Wanda struck him with a burst of power.
• Xi Nian and Lorna kissed, and Lorna insisted that she would always be his boss.
• Xi Nian told Lorna that Death's Eye had shown a death omen over Pietro, and they agreed to observe him in secret rather than imprison him.
• Xi Nian and Lorna concluded that Pietro's likely cause of death was being killed, and Xi Nian said death and fate could still be changed.

Thor learned that the Avengers had fractured, prompting Tony Stark and Doctor Banner to restart a plan to create Ultron. Meanwhile, Peter Parker spotted a bank robbery, and Xi Nian went to New York, where he found Lorna in his office and hurried to pin her down before Wanda could see them.

• Thor discovered that Steve had fallen out with Tony Stark and Gwen had resigned from the Avengers.
• Tony Stark and Doctor Banner decided to restart their plan to create Ultron, an artificial intelligence to control Iron Suits.
• Peter Parker noticed masked robbers cutting into cash machines at an unmanned bank.
• Xi Nian asked Wanda to open a portal to New York and told her to stay home while he handled company matters.
• Xi Nian arrived at Future Chronicle headquarters and found Lorna sitting on his bed in only a white shirt, so he pinned her down before Wanda could see her.

Xi Nian investigated the looming danger to Pietro and Peter Parker, then rushed to the harbor after Peter accidentally sliced a passenger ship in half with an alien weapon. Xi Nian used his armor and magnetic powers to save the ship and introduced himself to Spider-Man as Magneto.

• Xi Nian and Lorna checked on Pietro, who was asleep, and learned that Peter Parker had gone after suspected robbers aboard a passenger ship.
• Xi Nian left Lorna to monitor Pietro and headed to New York Harbor after receiving the ship’s location.
• Peter Parker’s alien weapon cut the passenger ship in half, and his webs failed to stop it from capsizing.
• Xi Nian arrived in a metal suit and used his powers to pull the ship together, seal its damage, and prevent it from sinking.
• When Spider-Man asked his rescuer’s name, Xi Nian called himself Magneto.

Xi Nian used Death's Eye to confirm that the shipboard crisis was connected to Peter Parker’s possible death, then intervened as Magneto to save the passengers. After clashing with Tony Stark over the Hero Limitation Protocol, he returned to headquarters with a new idea for dealing with it.

• Xi Nian used his borrowed magnetic ability to capture the armed men aboard the passenger ship and saw Peter Parker’s death omen lessen but remain.
• Tony Stark arrived, questioned Xi Nian about the green-haired girl and warned him about the Hero Limitation Protocol, but Xi Nian rejected the warning.
• Xi Nian knocked Stark’s remote-controlled Iron Suit into the sea and flew away.
• At Avengers headquarters, Tony and Doctor Banner activated Ultron and set its core directive to save Earth and eliminate hidden threats, while Tony ordered a nonmetallic countermeasure suit.
• Xi Nian returned to Future Chronicle headquarters and told the green-haired woman the crisis was resolved, saying the encounter had given him an idea for dealing with the protocol.